Meet the British people preparing for Doomsday

Across Britain, people are already preparing for Doomsday, burying equipment in the ground in advance of the apocalypse - and even teaching themselves to enjoy the taste of squirrel.

'Doomsday preppers' believe that apocalypse is coming - whether due to natural disaster, financial collapse, nuclear war or a solar flare.

British sci fi author Edward O'Toole is so convinced disaster is inevitable that he has already moved to Slovakia to prepare for the end.

He says, “I think there will be a new Dark Age and I want my children to have a good chance of survival.”

Internet theories over the so-called 'Mayan apocalypse', due this year, have led some 'preppers' to believe that disaster is due within weeks.

National Geographic interviewed 'preppers' in the UK, for a programmme, Preppers UK: Surviving Armageddon, to air tonight.

[Related: First DNA study claims Bigfoot is 'related to humans']

The 'preppers' include a radio DJ who broadcasts a show to help others survive a solar flare he believes to be inevitable.

A tree surgeon from Buckinghamshire, reveals how he is preparing for disaster by eating wildlife, including magpies and ant eggs.

A family from near Manchester told the programme how they are preparing to become completely self-sufficient after the world economy collapses.

Many conspiracy theorists expect an apocalypse this year in line with a supposed prediction in the Mayan Long Count Calendar.

The doomsday scenario suggests the day to end all days will be December 21.

This is because that date – the winter solstice - is the final one in the calendar used by the once great Central American civilisation.

Experts - and ethnic Mayans - agree that the 'end date' does not denote some kind of apocalypse, but instead a new period in the Mayan 'long count' calendar.